At the same time the year seems to be rushing to an end, it also seems to be doing so in slow motion. While the Sun doesn't return to your career sector until just before Christmas each year, despite the fact that you have a jump start on this, by the end of the week any urgency will have bottomed out. At the same time, while there is a strong sense of adventure in the air, as is the case at this time every year, a lack of urgency comes from the fact that you know old excuses no longer cut it. Where before there may have been an urge to embrace a sense of wanderlust, curiosity and adventure before it wanes, you know deep down that it's not and that this is here to stay. As much as you're able to keep on top of your game professionally, there is also time for friends and a social life that is opening up in an unexpected way.

TAURUS

While you have had Mars in your career sector since early last month and with Jupiter spending his first Christmas/New Year in your work sector in 12 years this has already rocked your professional world, expect it to be rocked all over again this week. It is Venus' return to your career sector on Thursday that not only brings the potential for attracting new professional opportunities this side of Christmas, but will ensure you have a say in how these exceptional work and career developments play out. Just as your professional year should be slowing down, it is instead speeding up. However, even if you wanted to, an alliance between playful and adventurous forces will guard against life becoming all work and no play. Just as well, for you have reached an important week for addressing any work/life balance issues.

GEMINI

Moving into the week with Venus and Mercury in your financial sector can only be good news, with your heart and mind on the same page from the get go, a smart head for money and your financial confidence high. Yet while Venus' departure on Thursday will leave you with your financial confidence, desires and expectations fuelled, her departure will also trigger a drop in urgency. With your annual financial review not starting until just before Christmas, this allows you to spend some time back at the drawing board. While this is always going to be an important time of year to focus on your relationships and that is especially so over the weekend, there are some unexpected elements in play. Those unexpected elements are playful and adventurous forces, not usually in effect at this time of year.

CANCER

Moving into the week with the Moon in your financial sector will ensure your financial instincts are sharp from the get go and considering how much the tide is turning in your favour, the timing couldn't be better. With Mars here since early last month you've been ready to take a bold approach to money matters for some time, but Venus' return on Thursday takes this to a whole new level. As your financial confidence kicks in, so too will the courage to take back your financial power. While this is a week where you will need to have your money, relationship, work and professional hats on from the get go, you shouldn't have a problem juggling them all. It all comes down to smart time management and learning to not only recognise what you need, but how to make it happen. From power naps to knowing when to take time out, you have to do what works for you.

LEO

From the get go it is clear that this is a week where a balance between work and play is not only a must, it is going to be vigorously policed, especially with the week itself becoming more complicated as you go. With the Sun and Saturn moving towards their alignment in a fun, playful, romantic and creatively charged part of your chart over the weekend, even if you wanted to, you are not going to get away with letting life become all work and no play. Yet you have the support to get a jump on work matters and during the course of the week you will also find a chance to start making things happen. Yet it's not just a balance between work and play that is a priority this week, with something special developing on the relationship front as well. Fortunately there is plenty of support between the communication and relationship gods.

VIRGO

While there is a lot of focus on home and family matters this week, this is fast becoming not just something you're able to put the spotlight on, but front and centre of your life. The Sun will always spend the first three weeks of December shining the solar spotlight on your home and family life and matters, but this year it is going to feel different. With so much happening on the work and relationship fronts, home and family matters might seem a distraction, but you're waking up to the fact that if you can get that right, everything else will fall into place. This goes beyond simply being aware and by the weekend there will be a chance to take a major stand or draw a major line in the sand. This comes just as there are some important developments building across the income, work and career fronts, making work/life balance essential.

LIBRA

Whether it is a balance between your personal and relationship needs or work/life balance, you're starting to appreciate that it is all about balance, but also just how important it is to have the communication lines open. It is the Moon's return to your relationship sector on Thursday that might see some strong emotional responses kick in, but also personal and/or relationship tensions start to rise and the timing couldn't be better. For it is over the weekend that you have the potential for a major communication breakthrough or at least an awakening of the importance of communication and the revelation of how much support you have. In the meantime, while home and family matters remain important, any urgency drops back this week, as if you're waiting for something. This buys you time to take care of any housekeeping.

SCORPIO
This week brings a mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar, the expected and the unexpected, with a need to move into the week with your mind and your options open, staying in the moment as much as possible. What is expected and familiar is that the spotlight will be on your income situation, matters and options at this time of year, but what is not expected is to the degree that it is. If you haven't already seen evidence, it is becoming clear that you have the means to bulldoze your way through glass ceilings that may have been in place for years. This comes just as there is an awakening of sorts on the work front, as you start to wake up to the fact that it is not just about the money. A growing need of job satisfaction and a sense of purpose is making it hard to stay somewhere just because of the money. This comes just your home and family life become a major priority.

SAGITTARIUS

Where last week's New Moon brought you to a point in your birthday month where you were able to commit to your birthday month and new solar year, it is already clear that all you were committed to is the start of the journey itself. With your birthday month not ending until just before Christmas, you are still exploring your options. In a year where there has been a heavy professional influence, this has now dropped back and you're starting to ask 'what about me'. It is over the weekend that you will have a chance to get close to finding that answer, as the Sun and Saturn align in Sagittarius, for the last time for another three decades. As the Sun shines the spotlight on your true sense of purpose, Saturn brings a reminder that you have the power to move mountains if you have to.

CAPRICORN

The final weeks of your old solar year are always a time for pulling back and this is a point of the year where you are often running on empty, wondering how you're going to find the energy to make it through these final weeks. Yet, while there will be times when you want the world to go away, so you can put out the 'do not disturb' sign and find time to hear yourself think, for the most part you don't have time for that. You have such a jump on your new solar year that even before it begins you know what you want, you know what excites you and you're ready to make it happen. In fact, your biggest danger is paying lip service to the wind down of this old solar year and an important chance to close old doors. If you don't slow down you are likely to find the wind taken out of your sails, especially over the weekend. From the get go, schedule time out over the weekend.

AQUARIUS

By the time Venus returns to Aquarius on Thursday your birthday month and 2017 is still over three weeks away and your birthday month and new solar year still six weeks away, giving you an amazing jump start on both. This is as far ahead of the Sun as Venus is physically able to get and teaming up with Mars, for the first time this side of Christmas in decades, this is a massive opportunity to not only get a sense of what excites you, but steer your future in the direction you want it to take. You won't even begin the wind down of your old solar year for another two weeks, turning you into a bit of a time traveller. As your heart and passions come together, this will bring an extraordinary opportunity to explore more options. With Mars having teamed up with Jupiter late last week, this comes just as you're waking up to a new quest for adventure.

PISCES

Despite the fact that you have not only moved into a powerful week for both income and career matters, with a sense that something profound is taking shape, you will find it hard to completely throw yourself into this. Something game changing is developing on both fronts and will continue to develop over the coming weeks and while you'll have no trouble keeping your professional and money hats on when you need to, you will also find it easy to keep them off when you want to. As the week progresses you will find yourself more and more drawn to an urge to put out the 'do not disturb' sign, finding time to hear yourself think. In the final two weeks of a Mars cycle that began in early 2015, you may even find that you're running on empty at times. This will make it important to work smarter, at a time when you're losing your taste for the fast lane.